


Vampire AU

by xsunny



Category: Joyeux Noël | Merry Christmas (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Audemayer, Blood Drinking, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Horstebert, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Other, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Relationship Discussions, Suicide Attempt, Temporary Character Death, Threesome - F/M/M, Vampires, Whump, World War I, hurt!Horstmayer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:33:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22308712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xsunny/pseuds/xsunny
Summary: Things change.(AKA the Vampire AU where they get together.)
Relationships: Camille Audebert/Anna Audebert (Joyeux Noël), Karl Horstmayer/Christine Horstmayer (Joyeux Noël), Lt Audebert/Lt Horstmayer (Joyeux Noël)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 6





	1. Into the darkness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Darth_Cannizard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darth_Cannizard/gifts).



> Warning: if any of the tags or the subject below may trigger you or make you feel uncomfortable, please don't read this story.  
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horstmayer is not himself anymore, and he needs Audebert more than ever.

Lieutenant Karl Daniel Hostmayer died some time after a savage battle on the East Front in the beginning of 1915. He died honorably, staying behind to ensure his men could take cover in the nearby forest while the air bombardment destroyed what the machine guns couldn't just before. 

Their enemies thought they were all gone and left soon after to another location, never caring to check the damage.

When the German soldiers came back to what was left of the trenches, they found Horstmayer's broken body, blood still seeping from too many wounds. They brought him to the woods on his final suffering moments, to die among them. They prayed, different creeds and beliefs joined together as their lieutenant suffocated on his own blood. Then it had started to rain. 

The last thoughts on Horstmayer's mind before oblivion were about his wife and Audebert, his brave and sweet Audebert. Their love was not meant to be, but how he wished they would survive the war and have happy and fulfilled lives. 

-x-

That night, while most slept, something happened. The lieutenant's body disappeared for a few hours, only to be found the next twilight by the river. The soldier who found him was mesmerized by how the lieutenant seemed to be sleeping instead of dead, how his wounds were closed, his body clean and rested.

They brought Horstmayer back to their improvised camp in the woods. They debated if they should bury or burn him, but opted for waiting until the reinforcements arrived in the morning. 

For some reason, while they were getting warm around a small bonfire, the lieutenant opened his eyes. They thought it was a miracle - a miracle born from war, something that could not be explained, but should be respected and feared. They called it 'the dark mystery'.

No word left their hosts afterwards, nothing was said outside the Regiment. For all intents and purposes, _Oberleutnant_ Karl Horstmayer had never been dead.

-x-

Audebert was having strange dreams since a little after the Christmas truce. 

He was musing about them, almost asleep, when Ponchel appeared on the entrance to his chambers in a rare night of ceasefire. Nothing out of the ordinary if Ponchel had not died weeks ago in a Belgium field dressed as a German soldier. 

Audebert was not sure if the presence of his friend was a dream or reality. But that was not important as he sat on the bed, his back resting on the wall, while he heard the man recount the events after the Christmas truce... how he was now living with his mother and still had coffee with her every day at ten - at night. The sun was not good to him. 

They talked until the first rays of morning appeared on the wood walls on the corridor of the trench. Then Ponchel excused himself and left. Audebert fell asleep a few moments later, puzzled and glad his friend was fine.

-x-

Horstmayer held his bleeding forearm close to him. He already expected the miraculous cure, but it never ceased to amaze him watching a wound close on its own, so fast. It hurt, but nothing like it did in the past. As the days passed and the battles piled up, his gift helped him survive and protect his men.

His Regiment became known as 'The Night Terror' by the Russians, attacking as the sun set, a high victory score making them one of the deadliest. Horstmayer smiled at their given name, then thought it was wrong and blamed himself for the slip. Tonight he needed to feed on them, but if he still had any humanity in him, he should not rejoice in drinking his enemy's blood.

His men would look to the other side when he fed - like in this moment, blood running down his chin as he drank from the Russian lieutenant whose troops they had just attacked. The man had slashed Horstmayer's forearm in an attempt to escape, but he stood no chance from the beginning. 

Horstmayer tried not to enjoy it, but the feel of the man succumbing to darkness in his arms was too much. He thought about Audebert as the man died, how Camille's blood would taste. Guilty overpowered him after the moment of ecstasy. 

No one questioned as he let the dead body slip from his arms to the muddy ground of the trench and walked away. 

-x-

The German lieutenant passed his tongue over the sharp canines that would appear during the night, when he came in contact with blood or thought about it. He had made experiments after being reborn, to catalogue the differences and list what would be permanent in his new condition. He also tested his limitations, part of him wanting to know his weaknesses, part of him wanting penance for his many sins.

So far, only the sun seemed to deplete his forces. He would not burst into flames like in monster stories, but become lethargic until he lost consciousness. If it weren't for his loyal men, he would have succumbed weeks before, for more than once he was found lying inert under the sun - he would be brought back to the camp and put in the shadows - and each time he would take longer to gather his strength back. 

One night Jörg suggested in jest he could try a stake, like in that English book. He was not prepared for his superior officer accepting the idea and asking for his help. Afraid to do harm, but curious and eager to help, Jörg was the one who slowly drove the piece of wood into his lieutenant's heart. 

Jörg almost lost his lunch at how pale Horstmayer became, lips going bluish and all movement ceasing, his heart and breathing stopping. He looked dead, if peaceful. Jörg hurried to remove the stake, and the moment it was out, Horstmayer came back to life, gulping air like a drowned man.

He insisted his second in command should try again, this time staking him deeper and longer. A very pale Jörg complied only when ordered, and this time it took longer for him to recover. Given enough time, Horstmayer was sure he would be dead when the stake came out. 

So now he knew, should it be necessary, there _was_ a way he could die, with a stake in his heart and left in the sun.

-x- 

They crossed paths again, in dreams. Audebert would hear Horstmayer calling his name from an empty battlefield at twilight. He would feel the urge to leave his trench and meet him, but when he gathered the courage, he would wake up, heart hammering in his chest.

Sometimes Horstmayer would be sitting at some tree trunk, holding his hat on his hands. He would lighten up when he saw Audebert from afar, his eyes different in color on the dawn light. Audebert would start coming to him, but before they touched, Horstmayer would stand up and leave.

Once, only once, Audebert could touch him, briefly. In this dream, Horstmayer looked sad and distant, suffering from something Audebert could feel but could not describe. He touched his shoulder, then passed his arm around him. They watched the sun coming out together. Audebert woke up crying.

-x-

Weeks passed without dreams until Audebert awoke with a presence in his chamber. He instantly knew _who_ it was, and _why_. The _how_ he surely didn't care about, not when a very pale Horstmayer was lifting the covers and laying down with him in his narrow cot.

"I came for you, my love."

"I knew you would come."

They kissed like they did on the Blessed Night. 

-x-

Audebert would have Horstmayer coming to him from time to time, especially after awfully gruesome battles on each side. They would kiss and touch, leaning against each other after, until morning. He never dared asking for more, content in sharing any crumb of time as if it were the last.

Horstmayer never needed to explain what had happened, but he did one night. He talked about how he tried to reach Camille only through dreams to keep him safe. He shared his fear of trying to consummate their love all the way and losing control over this terrible hunger he felt inside for his lover's blood. He shared how he would think of Camille when he drank from his enemies.

Audebert listened to every detail, curiosity and fear mingling together in a thrill he could not describe. He was entangled in the arms of a dangerous predator, a creature who could take his life drop by drop at any moment. He felt his arousal ignite his lover's. The kisses soon became much more. 

That night, they went all the way. They explored each other's bodies with lust and reverence, first times and pain entwined with pleasure and trust. They came together, Camille fully inside while Daniel still drank from his neck with passion. The last thing Camille saw before losing consciousness were the now blue eyes of his lover.

-x-

As the war progressed, they lost a part of their own humanity along the way, each and both with too many deaths and sins on their shoulders not to change. It reflected on their encounters becoming more sparse and violent, like a thirst never quenched that made both of them volatile. 

They were afraid of not being themselves anymore, of becoming something else they didn't recognize, destined to change so much they wouldn't want what they had anymore.

Horstmayer started to ask Audebert to end his life, for he could not go back to civilization the way he now was. Audebert would deny each and every time, an argument that would never end followed by vicious sex and hurtful words.

The irony was not lost on them - for fear of losing what they had, they were losing it, a night at a time. 

-x-

"I can't do it. No, let me rephrase that, I don't _want_ to do it and I _won't_ do it."

"But you have to, my friend. I have only you, you are the only one I trust to… end it."

"No. Never."

" _Camille_..."

"I will not help you die, Daniel. Not in a million years."

"It's the only way I will find peace. That _we_ will find peace."

"No. _No_ … I can't- I can't lose you!"

Horstmayer looked at him as the piece of wood in his own hand trembled in tandem with his lover's body.

Consumed by anger, with no preamble Audebert ripped it from Horstmayer's hand and staked him in the heart. Surprise barely registered as Daniel crumbled to the floor. Camille sat down and held the limp body as he cried.

-x-

Eventually, as the war was reaching an end, Horstmayer convinced his lover. They knew their inner haven was about to be destroyed, and soon they'd have to go back to their old lives, even if they couldn't remember how to live them. The arguments ceased, the carnal union becoming more desperate as each encounter could be their last. 

"It's this night, isn't it?" Horstmayer asked, his body entwined with Audebert's.

"Yes. How do you-"

"I felt your decision in your blood." He looked into Camille's eyes. "Thank you, my love."

Audebert let the tears fall from his eyes as he assented.

Morning was coming, and they didn't have enough time for long farewells or teary-eyed promises. They had already done that, many nights before.

-x-

As Horstmayer walked in front of him to the first rays of light in the snowy field, Audebert let his tears fall freely. They were cleansing all their sins, one by dying to the light, the other being the one doing the killing. They both would be reborn, if not to their old selves, to something new. 

Horstmayer already felt drained, each step more difficult than the last. Audebert encircled his waist and held his arm over his shoulder, and together they walked to the place they had chosen.

When they reached the chosen place, they kissed one last time, never breaking contact as Audebert slowly drove the wooden stake into his lover's heart. He felt and heard each small stuttering breath and barely hidden wince, pain and fear made bearable by the company of one another. 

As Horstmayer finally closed his eyes and exhaled one last time, Audebert guided his inert and cold body to the snowy ground. He spent what could be minutes, or hours, holding him close, allowing the watery sun to do its deed.

When he no longer could take a breath without wanting to end his life to be with Daniel again, Audebert carried Horstmayer's body to the wooden coffin they had prepared and laid him in it. The physical exertion of burying it in the prepared place should have helped taking his mind from what would be living his life without Daniel, going back to a world where all were not war, blood, passion and death. It just made him numb, like he was not who he once was. 

As he left the place, looking from time to time behind him and wishing to remember every small detail, Audebert held the Iron Cross from his lover. 


	2. Into the light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life, love, and arrangements.

Eventually, the war ended, and Audebert could finally go home, to his wife Anna and his son Henri. His and her parents would visit regularly, and as his duty in the Army had finally ended, he could resume his career in Architecture - reconstruction was one of the most needed expertise areas in Europe, which surely helped with their finances.

Audebert made sure Jörg received the letter Karl had left addressing the remaining soldiers from the 93rd Regiment. Not long after, he received a letter from Jörg in poorly written French - it made him smile knowing most of Horstmayer's men were alive and in good health, some already back home, others still prisoners of war but being decently treated, like Jörg himself. Audebert did all he could to ensure they would receive fair treatment and be returned home as soon as possible. 

Life continued, and even if it was not the same, _he_ was not the same - he tried to make each day count, as was Horstmayer's wish.

-x-

From time to time Audebert would exchange letters with Horstmayer's wife, Christine. He found out Christine had a daughter Karl didn't know about, a toddler named Lenore. Apparently his government withheld the information from him as a punishment for his participation in the Christmas Truce, and Horstmayer had died without knowing he had a daughter. 

As the significance of this hit him, he asked Anna to help with what he should write back to his friend's wife. So Anna started adding more and more notes and _postscriptums_ in the letters, later sending and receiving her own from Christine. A true friendship was born out of their shared interests, both women becoming close friends in no time.

Months passed and their bond strengthened. Soon they were not only visiting Christine and her beautiful daughter in Germany, but receiving them in their first days as they moved to France to live in the apartment building adjacent to the Audebert's house. Anna and Christine finally opened the tailoring business they dreamed about on the first floor of Christine's building, their son and daughter playing together on Anna's house nearby.

As Audebert watched from his studio on the second floor of the house the kids play in the backyard, he felt the closest he ever had from happiness after the war. If only one person was not missing in this small paradise they had created... life would be perfect.

-x-

No one thought it strange when Camille Audebert said he wanted to visit one of the battlefields he had fought in with his comrades, no need for him to tell which place it was. His wife offered to go with him, but he said it was something he needed to do alone, assuring her he would ask her presence should he feel he needed it. Christine wished him good luck and, with tears in her eyes, asked him to tell her husband, on the place he was laid to rest, about their daughter and how much she loved and missed him.

-x-

Audebert traveled alone, but he felt all the love from his and Horstmayer's family warming him. As he reached the place, snowy ground and bitter cold remembering him of _that day_ , he questioned if he deserved all that love and happiness after all the things he had done. 

He stopped walking. He could not step closer to the place Horstmayer was buried, as if his steps were halted by a force he could not explain. Nothing could convince his body to come closer, a shiver running down his spine. He fell on his knees and cried, cried like he had that day when he held Horstmayer's inert and cold body.

As tears ran down his face, he said aloud everything he needed to say, his hands holding his face when words failed him. The snow falling made all silent around him, the cold ground reflecting the last rays of sun. He thanked and cursed Daniel, he shared all that have happened since the end of the war. As his sobs started to subside, a mantle of peace fell over him, warmed him. He closed his eyes...

" _Horst_?"

"I'm here, my love." 

Audebert couldn't believe he was hearing that voice. Had he finally lost his mind? He looked around and there he was, _Deutsch Oberleutnant_ Karl Daniel Hostmayer, looking exactly like he was that day. 

He couldn't believe it, but he also didn't care. They embraced each other tenderly, no explanations needed. 

"Camille, you came- you came for me..."

"How- Of course I came, you horrible _Deutsch_!"

They laughed, and hugged, and cried, and kissed. 

-x-

Bringing Horstmayer back to life, at least bureaucratically, was easier than they thought it would be. Because of the war, it was not uncommon for people believed dead to appear out of nowhere, alive. They set the documents needed and excused Horstmayer's unusual behavior as having a condition acquired in the battlefields - no one questioned why he seldom left the apartment and the studio, or was not seen in the neighborhood during the day so much.

Horstmayer would feed from criminals and drunken men on dangerous and distant parts of the city, ending the lives of the former and getting a little drunk from the latter ones. If not for those escapades to the seedy parts of town, they would be, for all intents and purposes, the most common families. 

Audebert had Horstmayer's help on his architecture projects, the architect and the engineer having passionate discussions on how to develop the studio projects. Their work alone ensured them a wealthy life, but Christine and Anna's business also thrived. The kids would be playing nearby their mothers when they weren't at school and sneaking after bedtime into the studio while their fathers worked. Both Audebert and Horstmayer would carry the children to bed when they fell asleep on the couches.

Horstmayer joked from time to time he was at a disadvantage, as the five of them were native French speakers and knew words he didn't - he would complain about it in German, just to make the children laugh. 

They created their own little heaven, living a life full of happiness. 

-x-

The four of them knew about all that went on from the start, both men talking openly to their wives about their feelings and fears. Both women knew their husbands loved them and each other passionately, and it was no secret they would have to reach an agreement to live their lives to the fullest. They all agreed they could live like that, but taking care to hide their arrangement from their children, families, and neighbors, at least until the kids grew older. They shared many laughs thinking what General Audebert would do if he found out about it. 

And they were not ashamed of their agreement at all. Christine and Anna thought the time their husbands had together as a 'their men's thing', not for a moment thinking they didn't love them. When they were alone and after some wine, both women would constantly discuss in jest getting together themselves. They never acted on it, but the private joke made them share good laughs. 

And it was during one of the girls' nights they agreed that, as they had a wedding ceremony, their husbands should have the equivalent - but something for their wives benefit, something naughty and special. They decided on what they wanted: each would be present on one of their encounters, giving the equivalent of their blessing to them. 

Christine wanted to go first. Anna joked she would use the know-how soon after.

It took some time for each of them to convince their husbands, as something like this would require a whole new level of intimacy. They agreed they would not openly converse prior about what was about to happen among the four of them.

Horstmayer was the hardest one to convince, as they both predicted. He was afraid he would lose control and drink from his wife, or too much from Audebert. Christine said in jest she was more jealous of the blood drinking than the sex, and she laughed at her husband's flabbergasted face. No matter what, her man continued to be the German gentleman she married all those years before. That she could still awe him made her smile.

So they chose a night and sent the kids to Audebert's parents. The irony of the stern General taking care of the kids while his son was on such activities entertained the four of them to no end. 

As Audebert entered the room that night, Karl holding Christine from behind while they sat reclined in their bed, he was sure that was one of the craziest things he had ever done in his life. And one of the _rightest_. He sat close to them, slowly touching Karl's hair, kissing him while Christine started touching and kissing her husband's body. As both of them lavished Karl with touches and mouths, Camille gave some of his attention to Christine, tentatively at first, then decidedly and passionately after her beckoning. He checked his lover's reaction for any sign of unease, finding none. As the night progressed and they found themselves entangled together, Karl entrapped between his wife and his lover, they felt fulfilled. 

The next day, the four of them had trouble not smiling too much - Christine and Anna almost giggling - during breakfast with the kids.

A few nights later, it was Anna's turn to participate. This time, when Karl entered the room, Camille and Anna were already kissing passionately, their arousal coming in waves to his heightened senses. She watched as her husband and friend kissed and groped while Camille kept touching her. Karl, ever the gentleman, wouldn't touch her on his own, but when it happened, a small ' _Entschuldigung_ ' would leave his lips, sometimes kissed away by Camille. Anna, sharing a devilishly look with her husband, guided Karl's hand over body, the embarrassment he felt at first igniting arousal in both wife and husband. When time came, and both Anna and Camille enjoyed the consummation, Karl slowly drank from Camille while fully sheathed inside him, a hand holding Camille's neck in place while the other touched both bodies in front of him. 

Breakfast once again was an occasion to remember. This time, they did smile and giggled.

-x-

Life continued, undisturbed. Some years later, Audebert asked to be turned, which happened in an intimate and sensual night. When it worked, Horstmayer and Audebert offered together the same gift to both their wives. They declined the offer, deciding they wanted to reach the end of their natural lives when time came. Their love and respect never faltered, and together they enjoyed many other nights together.


	3. Epilogue

They had a happy and fulfilled life together with their loved ones. Anna and Christine had all the love in the world, and destiny had their son and daughter fall in love, intertwining their families even more. Once Henri and Lenore were of age, and with the blessing from their mothers, both fathers offered the chance of being reborn. They refused, preferring instead living a long and happy human life.

Horstmayer and Audebert would live to see their loved ones bringing to the world new loved ones, and would be there when they left. And they would be together. Forever.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on many conversations with Darth Cannizard about our dearest ideas and tropes in this fandom. Although we differ in some of our views, this story is... all her fault! LOL (Still not believing I wrote some of the things shown here...)


End file.
